1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a brew-in-the-cup disposable beverage assembly for brewing of a beverage, such as, for example, coffee, which contains everything necessary for making a freshly brewed, individual serving in the cup by the addition of liquid.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have been a number of proposals for brew-in-the-cup assemblies intended to enable a beverage drinker to take a preassembled cup containing all the dry ingredients needed and, by the addition of water or some other liquid, prepare an individual serving of beverage brewed in the cup. Such a product could have great appeal for sales through convenience stores, supermarkets, military and institutional users, camping goods stores, and many other outlets. For example, a consumer could buy a six-pack of the cup assemblies and use them as the need arises to create a cup of hot coffee, or other hot beverage, approaching a comparable level of quality to that expected at national-chain coffee houses.
In achieving this result, there are certain requirements which applicant has concluded need to be met. Since the brew-in-the-cup assembly may be in shelf storage for months or more, it is advantageous to prevent the beverage material, such as fresh coffee grounds or loose tea, from losing its flavor and freshness due to exposure to air. It would be desirable to provide an enhanced aroma of the beverage to excite the user's sense of smell and create a favorable anticipatory experience. A customer should receive a cup whose interior cleanliness is preserved during a long storage period against the intrusion of dust, insects or pollutants and which can assure the customer that it has not been tampered with. The customer should be served every time with a premeasured charge of the beverage material of the correct weight and qualities required to provide a beverage which is in the range of preferred consumer preferences, i.e., not too weak and not too strong. Moreover, if a hot or cooled beverage is desired, the cup should have adequate thermal insulation qualities to prevent over-rapid change in temperature of the drink or discomfort to the touch. Finally, the product should be easy to use, capable of manufacture at a cost level competitive with other delivery systems for the beverage, and disposable when the beverage has been consumed.
A number of prior devices intended to provide a brew-in-the-cup disposable beverage assembly are shown in prior patents. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,298,771 to Calvento discloses a generally cylindrical, coated paper “beverage receptacle,” which receives a “brewing cup” that has a conical shape with a filter sheet incorporated as its bottom wall. The filter sheet forms a space for holding a charge of beverage material, e.g., ground coffee. The beverage materials, which can be in a vacuum sealed portion, are stored inside the beverage receptacle. At the time of use, the beverage materials are transferred to the filter sheet and water is then poured into a disposable brewing cup to flow through the grounds into the beverage receptacle. The brewing cup and grounds are removed from the beverage receptacle before the hot beverage is drunk. Use of this device requires the user to perform a manual step of transferring the beverage material, e.g., ground coffee, from its original packaging to the filter region of the brewing cup. Such a procedure inherently involves some risk of messiness and inconvenience in the step of transferring the beverage materials to the filter paper of the brewing cup. In a dust-laden environment, this step might even expose the beverage materials to incorporate outside pollutants during the transfer step. Moreover, if the transfer is done poorly, through inattention, carelessness or lack of dexterity of the user, there can be a risk that the beverage materials may be distributed unevenly on the filter region leaving channels through which the liquid may pass through directly without infusion into the beverage material.
Another brew-in-the-cup assembly for hot beverages is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,424,083 to Lozito. The Lozito invention discloses making of coffee in a nondisposable mug, using a disposable conical “brewing cone” sized to fit into the open end of the mug. The brewing cone has a filter mesh at the downwardly facing apex of the cone which contains a premeasured charge of beverage material enclosed in a permeable filter net. For use, water is poured into the brewing cone, passes through the beverage material in the filter portion and drains into the cup. The charge of coffee trapped above the permeable filter net is described as “premeasured.” However, the Lozito patent does not contain any disclosure for airtight packaging of the premeasured beverage material charge that would preserve its freshness during any extended period of shelf storage before the time of use.
Accordingly, the present inventor has sought to achieve a brew-in-the-cup disposable beverage assembly which will avoid potential drawbacks of the prior art of the character described and satisfy the earlier-noted requirements for a disposable brew-in-the-cup beverage cup assembly.